Cubs MLB Roster

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40-Man Roster Info

40 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (roster is full) 

28 players on MLB RESERVE LIST are ACTIVE, and twelve players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors. 

Last updated 3-26-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 15
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Jose Cuas
Kyle Hendricks
* Shota Imanaga
Caleb Kilian
Mark Leiter Jr
* Luke Little
Julian Merryweather
Hector Neris 
* Drew Smyly
* Justin Steele
Jameson Taillon
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

INFIELDERS: 7
* Michael Busch 
Nico Hoerner
Nick Madrigal
* Miles Mastrobuoni
Christopher Morel
Dansby Swanson
Patrick Wisdom

OUTFIELDERS: 4
* Cody Bellinger 
Alexander Canario
# Ian Happ
Seiya Suzuki
* Mike Tauchman 

OPTIONED: 12 
Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Ben Brown, P 
Alexander Canario, OF 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, P 
* Matt Mervis, 1B 
Daniel Palencia, P 
Keegan Thompson, P 
Luis Vazquez, INF 
Hayden Wesneski, P 

 



 

Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

Game 116 Thread / Cardinals @ Cubs (1 of 3)

Game Chat | Press Pass | BR Preview

SP Braden Looper
SP
*Ted Lilly

10-9, 4.29, 65 K, 32 BB, 134.1 IP


11-6. 4.35, 129 K, 50 BB, 140.2 IP
       
LF
#Vince Coleman
LF
Alfonso Soriano
CF
#Willie McGee SS
Ryan Theriot
2B
#Tommy Herr
1B
Derrek Lee
1B
Jack Clark
3B
Aramis Ramirez
RF *Andy Van Slyke RF
*Kosuke Fukudome
3B
#Terry Pendleton
C
Geovany Soto
C
Mike Heath
CF *Jim Edmonds
SS
#Ozzie Smith
2B
Mark DeRosa
P *John Tudor
P *Ted Lilly

UPDATE: Screw LaRussa, I have to get back to work. Let's see how he does with Mike Heath in the lineup from 1986.


(I'm posting this without a Cardinals batting order. Based on what Bernie Miklasz is reporting here, Tony LaRussa is waiting to see if Rick Ankiel and his strained abdominal muscle are ready to go before he posts the lineup.)

At around 8:45 this morning, I saw a middle-aged couple walking hand-in-hand in downtown Chicago, wearing matching St. Louis Cardinals t-shirts. This reminded me of two things: first, that the Cards were in town to play the Cubs, and second, that middle-aged couples should never wear matching t-shirts.

As for baseball, all of the analysis of the Cards' unexpected success this season has overlooked the obvious—Tony LaRussa and Dave Duncan are witches.

Nevertheless, on Thursday, Brian Gunn, formerly proprietor of the first-rate Redbird Nation blog, picked his favorite team apart in an excellent analysis for The Hardball Times and concluded that the Cards haven't the stuff to catch the Cubs or even hang with the Brewers in the race for the Wild Card spot. A miserable bullpen (an MLB-leading 27 blown saves this season) and a starting staff still beset by injuries will do that to a club.

On Wednesday, John Perrotto at Baseball Prospectus (subscription) wrote about LaRussa's shift into full-blown pennant race mode, wherein the manager says he will be thinking much less about constantly juggling the Cardinals lineup to keep his regulars fresh and his bench guys sharp and thinking much more about simply playing the guys who "play the best." Somehow, this has led Tony La to reinstall Jason Isringhausen—5.98 ERA and just 12/19 in save opportunities—as his closer. (Maybe it's because one of the guys with whom Isringhausen shares the NL Blown Saves lead is Isringhausen's teammate, Ryan Franklin.)

This afternoon, the St. Louis Meritocracy turns to Braden Looper, who dropped a 2-1 decision to the Cubs and Carlos Zambrano back on the Fourth of July. The Cubs, who have split six games with St. Louis this season, all of them played at Busch, hand the ball to Ted Lilly, who has a victory and an ND against the Cardinals in '08.

Separately, Lou Piniellia, who might have skipped Jason Marquis's turn in the starting rotation in light of Monday's off day, is now saying that Marquis will, in fact, take his regular turn Wednesday at Atlanta. Rich Harden will pitch the series opener against the Braves on Tuesday with Lilly going Thursday.

Comments

called up by the Chicago Traveling Minor League Cast-offs

Well, that was very telling. RHP intentionally walks ARam to put runners on 1st and 2nd for the lefty K-Fukky, who obliges by grounding out. It's now clear why Rammy is setting a career high in walks -- teams have no respect for K-Fuk, and thus don't fear putting Rammy on base in front of him.

K-Fuk has no business batting behind A-Ram. There's a reason he only has 41 ribbies this season. The four teammates he's left sitting out on the bases in two at bats today illustrate why.

Cards' batting order did what it was designed to do in the 6th inning. Three pesky hitters try to get on base for Pujols batting fourth. And Pujols always gets to bat in the first inning. Most games, we have the smarter manager.

plesac is trying waaaaay too hard for a full time job somewhere else what happened to dave otto? and why the hell is howry in instead of wood? that makes zero sense. wood pitched 8 pitches on TUESDAY. he can almost certainly go two, unless they suck, in which case there will probably only be one anyway.

OH MY GOD PLESAC NOT EVERYTHING IS A KNUCKLEBALL SHUT UP he threw ONE knuckler to soriano. the other ones have not been even close to them, they've been awful curves. SHUT THE HELL UP already.

CUBS WIN Upsides: Edmonds carrying the offense through regulation. Lilly and the bullpen with a very strong performance. Hank White wins! Downsides: Dan Plesac is terrible. TURRRRRRIBLE. Yak yak yak yak yak yak yak yak yak yak yak yak yak yak yak. We can see the action as it occurs. You don't need to describe the game to us in AGONIZING detail.

70 wins into the season, Cubs have a +144 run differential. The Phillies are the next closest NL team at +72 -- HALF the Cubs mark. Words fail me, so I'll just concentrate on how nice it would be to sweep TLR & co. out of Wrigley. Scoreboard > stats.

Great outfield asst. by Fonzie in this game - also a good barehanded play by Dero on a bunt single attempt for an RBI. BTW, did anyone else see the replay on Edmonds' first HR? He tossed the bat right at the St. Louis dugout, replete with a glare at Larussa. Methinks the master of mind games may have f--cked himself over this time, big - time. Talk about pissing the wrong guy off at the worst possible time.

David Aardsma off the disabled list for the Red Sox and Huston Street was claimed off waivers by a non-contender but no deal could be agreed upon. Brad Ausmus claimed by the Marlins, but he has 10/5 rights so don't expect anything. LoDuca signs minor league deal with Marlins.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

If Ausmus and Giles want to block trades to contenders because they want to stay close to home, maybe they should retire then if being home means more than winning. I mean its only 2 or 3 months out of their lives.

And in the Stupid Manager Decision Department: calling a steal of home with the pitcher batting - and two outs?! Fuck you La Russa! And, nice CS by an alert Notre Dame Boy!

A couple of things for you Lowitski: Actually it is a catcher unassisted CS when the batter misses the ball, catcher catches and tags the incoming runner from 3rd. So, right back at you,

[ ]

In reply to by big_lowitzki

Fair point, but I still think LaRussa pushed too many buttons today. Tried to force the action. I know he didn't make the call on whether or not to send the runner that Fonzie threw out (Oquendo did), but that wasn't a very good send. I don't know if Pujols made the delayed steal attempt on his own or if that was called from the bench, but that was also a pretty crappy call. I know Samardzija doesn't pay a ton of attention to runners, but that's probably not the guy to send on a delayed steal with power hitting behind him. Cards ran themselves out of 3 innings on the bases today. Pretty good gift, I'd say.

[ ]

In reply to by big_lowitzki

THIS is from today's box: "BASERUNNING SB: Izturis 2 (14, 2nd base off Samardzija/Soto, 3rd base off Samardzija/Soto). CS: Pujols (2, 2nd base by Samardzija/Blanco), Izturis (4, home by Lilly/Soto)." The batter whiffed. It is in the box as a CS. This is what happened. The runner ran home and tried to score, as the ball was being pitched. I HAVE made my point and the Box backs up mine. We'll agree to disagree. And, it appears as if the LaRussa calls WERE stupid. None of them worked, did they? A manager is a genius when they work, but they also take the fall when they don't.

[ ]

In reply to by The E-Man

How many times do I have to tell you that you are right about it being a CS in the box score? I have already said that. But that does not mean that Larussa has the player tried to steal home. An attempted steal of home is quite different than an attempted suicide squeeze, even though the result looks the same in the box score. It is pretty simple. I don't know anyone but you who would call that an attempted steal of home rather than an attempted suicide squeeze. And just because a move doesn't work does not mean that it is stupid. That is silly.

[ ]

In reply to by big_lowitzki

"Attempted Steal" "Attempted Squeeze" It didn't work - no matter what you want to call it! Its a CS in the box. That is what the official scorer called it, too. "An attempted steal of home is quite different than an attempted suicide squeeze, even though the result looks the same in the box score." Bullshit - not today it didn't. HOW the Hell does what Itzturis did today, in what you are calling a "Suicide Squeeze" LOOK any differently than a a steal of home? The timing was the same, right handed batter, the point of the jump - all EXACTLY the SAME. And, Looper totally missed the pitch. Whatever, Big Lowitzki. Have a nice night. Or, have a night.

[ ]

In reply to by The E-Man

Its a CS in the box. That is what the official scorer called it, too. I know... I have agreed with you on that numerous times! "An attempted steal of home is quite different than an attempted suicide squeeze, even though the result looks the same in the box score." Bullshit - not today it didn't. Huh? The results look different in the box score? HOW the Hell does what Itzturis did today, in what you are calling a "Suicide Squeeze" LOOK any differently than a a steal of home? Well... first of all, it looks different because the batter tries to bunt. Second... I never said it "looked" different. I said that the strategy was different, and that the two were two very separate things. Look... you tried to bash Larussa for two things that simply were not true, and I corrected you. Larussa did not call for an attempted steal of home. He called for a suicide squeeze. If you don't get the difference at this point, I have no idea what to tell you. AND... he didn't do it with two outs.

"I know Samardzija doesn't pay a ton of attention to runners..." He doesn't - and that's why that play really is all to Soto's credit. He called out to Samardzija as soon as he saw what Pujols was up to - another heads - up play by our catcher.

That fellow Edmonds will be difficult to ignore this offseason. I'd love to see him in Ward's spot next year (late inning LH bat), but he could play 1B on occasion (?) and be a 4th/5th outfielder, along with Reed. This assumes we find a full-time CF. Problem with Jimmy is that those fly ball HRs will be caught in April/May when the wind is blowing in, so he will probably get off to a slow start. Terrific game -- great pitching and defense. A tip o' the cap to Hendry for getting Edmonds. Now -- time to get greedy!

wow, alot of bashing going on for semantics. Here's my take. It was definitely a suicide squeeze not an attempt to steal home, Looper was squaring away to bunt. The pitch was low and inside and Looper had to skip thinking he might get hit in the foot lost his balance and wound up laying on the ground. No way he could bunt when he's moving both feet to get out of the way and falling down. Excellent work by Soto just to catch the ball low and inside with Looper moving his feet and falling down. Double excellent work by Soto to move around Looper who was laying full out on the ground (rather than through or over him) to get in front of the plate to tag Izturis. here's the link so Rob can watch the play: http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?mid=200808083274319&c_id=chc

although Scott Eyre is in the Phillie bullpen, he wasn't used in a 2-0 loss last night vs the Pirates. Interestingly enough, Les Waldron surfaced somehow in the Phillie bullpen to get the loss giving up both runs in the top of the 12th. Eyre (if he was there yet, not sure he arrived for that game...still driving that RV?) must wonder what it takes to get into a game if a lefty like Waldron gets in before him. http://www.phillieshomeplate.com/

24 games over .500 is the most since October 1, 1989. The next mark is 32 games over on September 15, 1984. Not only is Walrond up with the Phillies, but Rocky Cherry was called up to take Chad Bradford's place with the Orioles.

Submitted by billybucks on Fri, 08/08/2008 - 9:42pm.

That fellow Edmonds will be difficult to ignore this offseason. I'd love to see him in Ward's spot next year (late inning LH bat), but he could play 1B on occasion (?) and be a 4th/5th outfielder, along with Reed.

This assumes we find a full-time CF. Problem with Jimmy is that those fly ball HRs will be caught in April/May when the wind is blowing in, so he will probably get off to a slow start.

Terrific game -- great pitching and defense. A tip o' the cap to Hendry for getting Edmonds

==============================

BILLY B: While Jim Edmonds has proven he can still play and while it would be nice if he could return to the Cubs next season and do it again, Felix Pie will be out of minor league options next ST and Micah Hoffpauir is on a "full-season" pace for 90 doubles, 45 HR, and 225 RBI at Iowa, so I suspect the Cubs will go with Felix Pie in CF (at least in a platoon with Reed Johnson or somebody else still TBD) and Micah Hoffpauir as the back-up 1B & primary LHPH next season.

The Cubs are going to need to find the cash to re-sign Dempster and maybe Wood, and cutting costs on the bench would be one way to accomplish that (trading Jason Marquis sometime during the off-season would be the other way).

As for Edmonds, I could see him playing most every day in CF with somebody next season. Other than the nagging knee and foot problems, when he's able to take the field, it's pretty obvious he is still a valuable and productive player. I just doubt that he'll be back with the Cubs in 2009.

[ ]

In reply to by Arizona Phil

I look forward to the day when useless Daryle Ward is replaced by Micah Hoffpauir. It should have happened months ago. As for finding cash...The Cubs have a bottomless pit of money. Hendry knows where to find it now that cheapskate MacFail is gone. The big secret? Just ask and the brass open their wallets. Goodbye Jim? It would be a mistake to let a healthy Edmonds go. He's too important to the offense, especially with Lee and Ramirez both showing dropoffs in power. Take away his 14 home runs as a Cub and the team is just average---sinking from 4th in the NL to 9th. The Cubs are 8-3 when Edmonds hits a home run. They are timely. And his other numbers aren't flukey, his .284 .384 with the Cubs is congruent with his career .286 .378 . As for Pie, he may be out of options but Lou hates his lack of sophistication at the plate and his utter lack of coachability in that regard. The fact that he screwed up his hand trying to hit the way they want him to is a testament to that. And now it's proven to be a lingering type "injury" or whatever as he was benched for an entire week with "hand" as the excuse. And with Fukudome having severe problems at the plate lately as the league has adjusted to him, I really doubt that Lou and the Cubs are going to have much patience with Felix next year. Kosuke is a 4/48 investment that needs protecting. Edmonds can take the heat off the order if Fukudome isn't producing. Asking the same of Felix Pie is a pretty tall order.

[ ]

In reply to by navigator

I'm not sure if Edmonds is really equipped to be an off the bench bat? I also imagine that he still views himself as an everyday player. Probably best to give him his WS ring and send him on his way. The radical in me wants to see the following changes after we win the WS this year. 1. offer arbitration to Demp and Woody. If they accept and come back on 1 yr contract. Great 2. Decline to offer Arb to Edmonds,Howry, and Blanco (after his option is declined) 3. See if it's possible to trade Marquis. If we gotta keep him so be it. 4. Offer Manny Ramirez a contract in the 3/57 to 3/66 range. They we can go left to right with Manny/Fukyu/Soriano. Rf- Soriano Ss- Theriot Lf- Manny 3b- Aram 1b- Dlee Cf- Kfuk 2b- DeRosa C- Soto Pie Koyie Hill Hoffpauir Fontenot Cedeno fill out the bench Rotation: Z Harden Lilly Marquis Marshall/Hill Pen: Marmol Samja Wuertz Ascanio Cotts Veal Wells X- scrap heap X- Scrap heap Berg? Fight for spots in the pen.

Well, "birdo," if it were a real Spanish noun and not a Spanglish invention, would most likely be masculine (some exceptions like la mano (hand)), and, in plural form, the article would be los. So if my Occupational Spanish doesn't fail me, it should be vivan los birdos. (The plural noun takes a plural verb.) Is it game time yet?

Recent comments

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Javier Assad started the Lo-A game (Myrtle Beach versus Stockton) on the Cubs backfields on Wednesday as his final Spring Training tune-up. He was supposed to throw five innings / 75 pitches. However, I was at the minor league road games at Fitch so I didn't see Assad pitch. 

  • crunch (view)

    cards put j.young on waivers.

    they really tried to make it happen this spring, but he put up a crazy bad slash of .081/.244/.108 in 45PA.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Seconded!!!

  • crunch (view)

    another awesome spring of pitching reports.  thanks a lot, appreciated.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Here are the Cubs pitchers reports from Tuesday afternoon's Cardinals - Cubs game art Sloan Park in Mesa:

    SHOTA IMANAGA
    FB: 90-92 
    CUT: 87-89 
    SL: 82-83 
    SPLIT: 81-84
    CV: 73-74 
    COMMENT: Worked three innings plus two batters in the fourth... allowed four runs (three earned) on eight hits (six singles and two doubles) walked one, and struck out six (four swinging), with a 1/2 GO/AO... he threw 73 pitches (52 strikes - 10 swing & miss - 19 foul balls)... surrendered one run in the top of the 1st on a one-out double off Cody Bellinger's glove in deep straight-away CF followed one out later by two consecutive two-out bloop singles, allowed two runs (one earned) in the 2nd after retiring the first two hitters (first batter had a nine-pitch AB with four consecutive two-strike foul balls before being retired 3 -U) on a two-out infield single (weak throw on the run by Nico Hoerner), a hard-contact line drive RBI double down the RF line, and an E-1 (missed catch) by Imanaga on what should been an inning-ending 3-1 GO, gave up another run in the 3rd on a two-out walk on a 3-2 pitch and an RBI double to LF, and two consecutive singles leading off the top of the 4th before being relieved (runners were ultimately left stranded)... threw 18 pitches in the 1st inning (14 strikes - two swing & miss, one on FB and the other on a SL - four foul balls), 24 pitches in the 2nd inning (17 strikes - three swing & miss, one on FB, two SPLIT - six foul balls), 19 pitches in the 3rd inning (13 strikes - seven swing & miss, three on SL, two on SPLIT, one on FB - three foul balls), and 12 pitches without retiring a batter in the top of the 4th (8 strikes - no swing & miss - four foul balls)... Imanaga throws a lot of pitches per inning, but it's not because he doesn't throw strikes...  if anything, he throws too many strikes (he threw 70% strikes on Tuesday)... while he gets a ton of swing & miss (and strikeouts), he also induces a lot of foul balls because he doesn't try to make hitters chase his pitches by throwing them out of the strike zone... rather, he uses his very diverse pitch mix to get swing & miss (and lots of foul balls as well)... he also is a fly ball pitcher who will give up more than his share of HR during the course of the season...   
     
    JOE NAHAS
    FB: 90-92 
    SL: 83-85 
    CV: 80-81 
    COMMENT: Was called up from the Hi-A South Bend group at Minor League Camp for the day... relieved Imanaga with runners at first and second and no outs in the top of the 4th, and after an E-2 catcher's interference committed by Miguel Amaya loaded he bases, Nahas struck out the side (one swinging & two looking)... threw 16 pitches (11 strikes - two swinging)...   

    YENCY ALMONTE
    FB: 89-92 
    CH: 86 
    SL: 79 
    COMMENT: Threw an eight-pitch 5th (five strikes - no swing & miss), with a 5-3 GO for the first out and an inning-ending 4-6-3 DP after a one-out single... command was a bit off but he worked through it...   

    FRANKIE SCALZO JR
    FB: 94-95
    CH: 88 
    SL: 83
    COMMENT: Was called up from the AA Tennessee group at Minor League Camp for the day and worked the 6th inning... got the first outs easily (a P-5 and a 4-3 GO) on just three pitches, before allowing three consecutive two-out hard-contact hits (a double and two singles), with the third hit on pitch # 9 resulting in a runner being thrown out at the plate by RF Christian Franklin for the third out of the inning... 

    MICHAEL ARIAS
    FB: 94-96
    CH: 87-89
    SL: 82-83
    COMMENT: Was called up from the AA Tennessee group at Minor League Camp for the day and allowed a hard-contact double on the third pitch of the 7th inning (a 96 MPH FB), and the runner came around to score on a 4-3 GO and a WP... gave up two other loud contact outs (an L-7 and an F-9)... threw 18 pitches (only 10 strikes - only one swing & miss)... stuff is electric but still very raw and he continues to have difficulty commanding it, and while he has the repertoire of a SP, he throws too many pitches-per-inning to be a SP and not enough strikes to be a closer... he is most definitely still a work-in-progress...   

    ZAC LEIGH: 
    FB: 93-94 
    CH: 89 
    SL: 81-83 
    CV: 78
    COMMENT: Was called up from the AA Tennessee group at Minor League Camp for the day and tossed a 1-2-3 8th (4-3 GO, K-swinging on a sweeper, K-looking on another sweeper)... threw 14 pitches (11 strikes - one swing & miss - eight foul balls)... kept pumping pitches into the strike zone but had difficulty putting hitters away (ergo a ton of foul balls)... FB velo is nowhere near the 96-98 MPH it was a couple of years ago when he was a Top 30 prospect, but his secondaries are better...   

    JOSE ROMERO:  
    FB: 93-95
    SL: 82-84
    COMMENT: Was called up from the Hi-A South Bend group at Minor League Camp for the day and worked the 9th (14 pitches - only six strikes- no swing & miss) and allowed a solo HR after two near-HR fly outs to the warning track, before getting a 3-1 GO to end the inning... it was like batting practice when he wasn't throwing pitches out of the strike zone...

  • crunch (view)

    pablo sandoval played 3rd and got a couple ABs (strikeout, single!) in the OAK@SF "exhibition"

    mlb officially authenticated the ball of the single he hit.  nice.

    he's in surprisingly good shape considering his poor body condition in his last playing seasons.  he's not lean, but he looks healthier.  good for him.

  • crunch (view)

    dbacks are signing j.montgomery to a 1/25m with a vesting 20m player option.

    i dunno when the ink officially dries, but i believe if he signs once the season begins he can't be offered a QO...and i'm not sure if that thing with SD/LAD in korea was the season beginning, either.

  • crunch (view)

    sut says imanaga getting the home opener at wrigley (game 4 of the season).

  • crunch (view)

    cubs rolling out the who's who of "who the hell is this guy?" in the last spring game.

  • videographer (view)

    AZ Phil, speaking of Jordan Wicks having better command when he tires a bit, I remember reading about Dennis Lamp 40 years ago and his sinker that was better after 3 or 4 innings when he would tire a bit and get more sink with a little less speed on the pitch.  The key for Lamp was getting to the 4th inning.